Member Reviews
I absolutely loved this book. The set up and the pacing between hate and like to friendship to lovers was great. I devoured this in almost a full day once I read it this week..I started on a Friday and finished late Saturday night.
Thank you netgalley and publishers for the chance to read and review. This will be on blog sometime in future, but for now Netgalley is good to keep up with. (I'm getting married next month.)
This was my first Helena Hunting book and I just felt like it was…. overhyped. A good chunk of the book is spent telling us, and in my head, I hear my high school creative writing teacher saying, “show, don’t tell” and I think that’s why I struggled so much with this.
This book follows Kitty, who owns her own professional cat-sitting business. She calls herself Kitty, the cat Whisperer. And then we have Miles, who’s basically anti-cat who works as an analyst for the NHL, whose mom is in the hospital and he needs help taking care of her cat. Miles hires Kitty, and they have such awkward interactions I had some secondhand embarrassment, which I also struggle with when trying to read through it.
It was definitely a unique story and it was cute!
A LOVE CATASTROPHE is Helena Hunting at her finest. Kitty and Miles were such a joy to read and I loved all the shenanigans they got up to. While Kitty is a professional cat sitter and Miles is a buttoned-up hockey analyst, these two opposites seem to have nothing in common, but as they say, these opposites do indeed attract. After his mom moves into assisted living following her early-onset dementia diagnosis, Miles hires Kitty to watch Prince Francis, his mom's beloved sphynx cat. Sparks fly as they get to know each other more, and they finally give in to the attraction they feel towards each other.
This story has a lot of fun, but it also deals with a lot of issues that people deal with on a daily basis. Getting a business off the ground and making a good impression at work; wanting people to take your unconventional business seriously and being a care partner for your loved one; and honestly, just surviving in this crazy world. If you're looking for a feel-good read that's fun and sexy and emotional and sweet, A LOVE CATASTROPHE is for you!
Thank you to the author, Forever, and NetGalley for the early copy of A LOVE CATASTROPHE to read and review. Pick this one up today!
As a cat lover I was here for all of the cat puns and kitty drama that ensues in A Love Catastrophe. I loved Miles but Kitty was a bit hard to deal with at times. At the beginning she was constantly judging Miles for being a dog person and she tended to jump to conclusions. I loved how there was not a third act break up! While this was not my favorite book by Helena Hunting, I would recommend it to anyone who loves cats and happily ever afters.
When Miles needs a cat sitter for his mother’s cat, he calls Kitty.
Like Max, I am not a cat person. With that being said, I really enjoyed this book about Kitty and Max (and Prince Francis). Helena Hunting can write romance, and the audiobook of this was great!
4/5
This was so freaking cute! I loved all of the cat references throughout the novel.
I felt that it times it was a little bit cheesy and over the top; however, I still had a fun time with this concept. As someone who is allergic to cats, I loved getting to live vicariously through Kitty and her job as the "Kitty Whisperer".
I loved the grumpy x sunshine vibes with Kitty and Miles! Their dynamic was so adorable and thought their chemistry was incredibly palpable.
Overall a sweet and quick read that I enjoyed!
I wanted to like it more than I did - the cat puns/theme was a little too cutesy for me, and I wanted to see more character development between the two leads - I felt like I didn't really see the chemistry or the emotional depth there. I will say I'm not a cat person so maybe that's also why I wasn't as into it.
Y’all, I can’t tell if I loved this book or hated it. Some authors do the corniness of a cozy mystery really well, and while this isn’t a cozy mystery in any means, it felt like the author was trying so hard to incorporate the punniness that makes those types of books exactly what makes them appealing. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed both Kitty and Miles as characters, and I appreciated their parallel traumas, but something about this book just felt so corny… and not in a good, fun way. I mean, how many people who work with felines have feline-related names? It was all too much and really took away from the story itself. Seriously, something as simple as the characters’ names really distracted from the plot line and the content within the story.
I really didn’t hate this book by any means. And I did enjoy reading it for the most part, but I found myself eye-rolling way too much, and when it comes to that, I just can’t fully appreciate a book. This was my first experience with Helena Hunting, and based off it, I’m not sure I’d read her again.
I love Helena Hunting and she is one of my favorite authors. I don’t even remember how many of her books I read more than once. There are only two or three books of her that didn’t do it for me and unfortunately, A Love Catastrophe is one of them.
Miles Thorn works as an analyst for a professional hockey team and due to his work, he needs to travel with the team. When his mom is hospitalized and he doesn’t know how long she will be away and considering his travel schedule, he needs a cat sitter for his mom’s cat, Prince Francis. During his search for a sitter, Miles comes across the Kitty Whisperer, Kitty Hart. Kitty owns her cat-sitting company and is a true cat lover. Their meet-cute was a bit awkward, embarrassing, and annoying for Kitty since Miles is a dog lover and constantly picks on Prince Francis. Since the first moment, there is sparks between Miles and Kitty. I enjoyed how their relationship slowly progressed and became more. Since my grandmom has Alzheimer’s, it was sad to see what Miles was going through and I think his interaction with his mom is the most relatable thing in the book for me. While there were cute, funny, sweet moments throughout the book, the cat puns were too much for me. I was ok at first but midway through I had enough of cat puns.
Helena Hunting is and will be an auto-buy for me since too many of her books are my favorites and I read them more than 2-3 times, but A Love Catastrophe was just not for me.
Would I recommend this book: Maybe
Would I re-read this book: No
Would I read future books by this author: Yes
Thank you, netgalley for my copy of this book.
While I love a good Helena Hunting book, this one wasn’t my favorite. It might be because I’m not much of a cat person though.
Yes, I would recommend this one for anyone who likes a heartwarming, quick romcom type read.
This book was seriously cute! My crazy cat loving self adored it.
There were parts of it that were so funny that I probably looked like a weirdo laughing to myself while I read it.
There were also some very sad parts that tugged at my heart. Kitty and Miles had both endured losses, and their shared bonding over this was poignant and beautiful.
This was such a lovely book that I'm truly happy to have read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
3.5 stars (rounded up)!
Wow, "A Love Catastrophe" by Helena Hunting sure does have a lot of cat puns! Like, A LOT a lot. If you think there are going to be tons of cat puns, multiply that number by four because boy howdy, cat puns! I found this book to be an awkward, ridiculous, laugh-out-loud delight. There are some very powerful, heavy moments of grief and trauma mixed in with the feline fun and spicy scenes, which I think gives this book more depth than meets the eye. This balance of levity and heaviness kept me invested and interested more than I thought I'd be. I enjoyed the main characters, Kitty and Miles. They complimented each other well as main characters and had terrific chemistry. This book is quick, silly at times, and surprisingly sweetly heartwarming. It was so close to being a 4-star book, but it's a little too slow, a little too repetitive, and a little too predictable to justify the full 4 stars. But I still really liked it, so I am conflicted! This is the first book by Helena Hunting that I have read, and I will *definitely* be adding more of her books to my TBR! She surely knows how to write good banter, funny dialogue, and interesting situations!
Thank you to NetGalley, Helena Hunting, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
I really wanted to like this but I seemed to miss the mark for me!
Looking forward to reading more of this authors books though!
“You’re a sunrise in human form,” I tell her. “And I’m lucky I get to see you shine every single day.” A Love Catastrophe by Helena Hunting
This was such a fun light-hearted read. Kitty, a professional kitty whisperer, is hired by Miles, an analyst for a hockey team, to care for his mother's cat. The cat in question, Prince Francis, is not a fan of Miles and Miles really dislike Prince Francis. Kitty and Miles have a disastrous meet-cute, and to make matters worse, Miles is very vocal about his dislike of Prince Francis. Miles has a lot going on and wasn't planning on falling for Kitty. Their romance is sweet, with slight spice. They did have to work through some tough situations, and I thought it was done well. I also enjoyed that it didn't really have a third act break-up when things got rough. I think this is a great read if you enjoy cat puns and want a sweet romance with some touching topics.
Review 4.25⭐️
This was exactly the snort-out-loud, over-the-top book I needed in my life right now.
Kitty Hart is a cat sitter, who's pretty famous on Instagram and trying to grow her business.
Miles Thorn hates cats, and needs a cat sitter for his mom's cat, while he's transitioning her into a mental care facility.
A series of unfortunate events happen whenever Kitty and Miles get together, causing them to get off on the wrong foot. As they're thrown together they start to see there is more to each other than they originally thought, and they actually become friends...which leads to some steamy more-than-friends action.
It's not all lightness and joy though. Miles is dealing with his mother who has serious cognitive decline, trying to clean out her house, while managing his own new job. Kitty also gets attacked by fans online, and off, when a video goes viral for all the wrong reasons.
This book was cute and steamy, but leaned a bit too much into the cat cliches of it all for me. I really enjoy Helena Hunting's books for a fluffy, spicy read every once in a while, but don't think the stories necessarily do anything ground breaking.
There were a few things I really enjoyed about this novel. The main male character has a super interesting job as a data analyst for an NHL team which feels really unique. I also liked the growing friend group that the couple found with the hockey players and their wives.
Some things were a bit lack luster in my opinion. I feel like their relationship went from lust to insta love with not a ton of development. I think that a lot of the back story about each MC's tragically sad pasts could have been avoided.
If you are a huge animal lover I would definitely recommend this book! If you're looking for the new best romance book ever, not sure this one will hit the mark.
Cat person vs. Dog person but make it a romance!
I loved the awkwardness of Kitty, a cat sitter, and Miles, a hockey stats analyst! There was a great balance of silly mixed in with the seriousness of what both characters were dealing with in regards to their families. I was rooting for these two romantically and personally from the beginning!
Loved this story! This book was unique and different, I loved the approach for grumpy sunshine and not holding the same job as every other romance book. The characters in this story are beautifully crafted, and the dynamics between them are simply captivating. The concept of 'grumpy sunshine' is both intriguing and endearing, adding a charming layer of complexity to the romance. It's heartwarming to see how the characters' personalities complement each other in ways that are unexpected yet undeniably perfect.
Had I known this book was about “The Kitty Whisperer”, a cat sitter/trainer, I would have most likely not picked it up 😂
Overall, this was a sweet story the was easy and quick to read. I loved all the characters throughout the book and everyone just seemed so normal, I found them to be so relatable.
I did find some plot points to be a little rushed. The MCs just sort of get together kind of out of the blue and the major conflict comes in and wraps up pretty quickly. I also found myself physically cringing with how awkward they both were at different points in the story but at other times I found them to be so cute and perfect for each other.
I was not completely sold on this one but there was no third act breakup which completely changed my mind about it!
Read this if you:
- Are obsessed with cats
- Can’t stand a third act breakup
- Love wholesome social media content
Helena Hunting can always be counted on and this book was everything I wanted it to be. It was cute and sweet and made me want to cuddle my cat (he did not share that thought). I really enjoyed the process of these characters getting together.